After the final whistle, Frankfurt shifted up a gear again. After Eintracht had brought the 2-0 (1-0) home win against Werder Bremen to the end almost in management mode, the players celebrated exuberantly with the fans. The joy about the successful dress rehearsal for the big Champions League duel with SSC Naples and the re-established connection to the top flight of the Bundesliga was huge.
“It wasn’t an easy game for us, but we didn’t allow much and can be very satisfied,” said national player Mario Götze on Sky. Sixth in the table, the Hessians are only two points behind a place in the Champions League. “If it were the top four, it would be sensational,” said ex-world champion Götze, “but we know how difficult it will be and who is ahead of us.”
Bremen’s Friedl: “Absolutely deserved defeat”
In front of 50,000 spectators, Bremen’s Marco Friedl scored with an own goal in the eighth minute and Randal Kolo Muani (52nd) with his tenth goal of the season for Eintracht, who three days before the round of 16 first leg in the premier class against Naples was an average performance to succeed. “The defeat is absolutely deserved,” said Friedl from Bremen. “We didn’t manage to get the necessary conviction with the ball.”
The hosts started energetically and immediately put pressure on Bremen, who are still in no man’s land in tenth place with 27 points. Already in the third minute things became dangerous in front of the visitors’ goal when Ansgar Knauff, who was new to the starting XI, narrowly missed a cross from Jesper Lindström.
Five minutes later, Eintracht celebrated. After a long free-kick, Kristijan Jakic passed the ball straight in, where Bremen’s captain Friedl unluckily maneuvered the ball into his own goal. A little later, Daichi Kamada, who ran freely, missed the big chance to make it 2-0 when he clearly missed.
Werder only tentatively made their way forward and hardly ever made the Frankfurt defense sweat. The lack of top performers Mitchell Weiser, Christian Groß and Leonardo Bittencourt, who were injured, ill or suspended, was clearly noticeable in the promoted team.
Now Naples is waiting for harmony
But the initial momentum was also lost in Frankfurt. A harmless header from Knauff, which represented the Portuguese Aurélio Buta well on the right, was the only scene worth mentioning until just before the break. Otherwise there was a lot of idle time on both sides. Only in added time in the first half did Eintracht have another chance, but Lindström hastily missed it.
Shortly after the restart, coach Oliver Glasner’s team followed suit. Kolo Muani’s header was initially denied by Werder goalkeeper Jiri Pavlenka, but Knauff put the rebound into the middle again, where the Frenchman only had to put his foot down.
After that, Frankfurt switched to administration mode to save a little energy. Goalscorer Kolo Muani was allowed to take a shower just as early as Philipp Max, who again acted conspicuously on the left wing. Bremen tried hard, but acted far too harmlessly to turn the game around. A goal by Niclas Füllkrug in added time didn’t count because of offside.
